how many litres or gallons in the standard barrel of oil as used on the stock market?

Answer 1

The previous responses are wrong. The correct answer is 42 gallons. Please see the following, from Wikipedia:

Oil barrel: 42 U.S. gallons, 158.9873 litres,[1] or 34.97231575 Imperial (UK) gallons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_(unit)

The standard barrel of crude oil or other petroleum product (abbreviated bbl) is 42 US gallons (about 35 Imperial gallons or 159 L). This measurement originated in the early Pennsylvania oil fields, and permitted both British and American merchants to refer to the same unit, which was based on the old English wine measure, the tierce.

Earlier, another size of whiskey barrel was once the most common size; this was the 40 US-gallon (151.4 litres) barrel for proof spirits, which was of the same volume as 5 US bushels. However, by 1866 the oil barrel was standardized at 42 US-gallons.

Oil has not been shipped in barrels for a long time [4] since the introduction of oil tanker ships, but the 42-US-gallon size is still used as a unit for measurement, pricing, and in tax and regulatory codes, each 42-US-gallon barrel making about 19½ gallons of gasoline.[citation needed]

The current standard volume for barrels for chemicals and food is 55 US gallons or 208 litres.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel

Answer 2

Oil comes in 55 gallon steel drums.

Answer 3

55 Gals.